The invention relates to an information system for a traffic network, information of interest for travellers being transmitted, by a transmitter system, to data receivers in vehicles making use of the traffic network.
Such a system is disclosed in WO-90/05969, in which the traffic intensity of road sections is measured using infrared detectors and said information, after having been processed, is transmitted to pagers located in vehicles. On said pagers, the traffic intensity of the region is then shown using a graphic display on which the regional road network is shown, as well as the traffic intensity on the various roads. Although the known system gives an impetus to informing road users, the system does not extend beyond a specific region. Although the xe2x80x9cregionxe2x80x9d may of course be chosen large, the consequence then is that the information becomes less specific for each road user.
The invention provides for a system as indicated hereinabove in which, however, the information may be transmitted more specifically to each road user, while the system is still usable over a large area (national, European).
The present invention represents a system with which said regional distribution of information may be carried out in such a way that for each user the relevant information travels along with him, as it were. For this purpose, the invention provides for means by which the pager used by the traveller for (inter alia) receiving traffic information, is automatically switched from one to the other xe2x80x9cinformation regionxe2x80x9d. The traffic network according to the invention is broken down into information regions having a regional (pager) identification code (RIC) each, and means to provide pagers (in a vehicle), upon entry into a new region, with the RIC in force for said new region. In doing so, of course, use must be made of (modern) pagers which are suitable for setting the RIC by an external code signal. Said type of pager is capable of receiving and displaying messages which are addressed to the (an) individual pager ID [=identifier], but also messages which are addressed to a collective ID, as a result of which one and the same message may be simultaneously passed along to various pagers. Pagers with which said collective ID is capable of being set from the outside may be used in the system according to the invention. The collective ID is preferably set using beacon transmitters.